Using Thai Native Moss as Bio-Adsorbent for Contaminated Heavy Metal in Air

AbstractAtmospheric particulate matter contaminated with heavy metal is harmful to the respiratory and cardiovascular system. Biomonitoring is a novel technique of using organisms or biomaterials to examine air quality. Moss was developed for using as a bioindicator to assess the concentration of heavy metal in atmosphere in many countries because of its ability to adsorb heavy metals. However; there had never been a study on native mosses in Thailand. Therefore; this research was aimed at studying the adsorption of heavy metal in polluted air by using Thai native mosses. Thai native mosses weretransplanted on a tray and placed on Ratchawithi Road, SuanSunandhaRajabhat university, Bangkok, Thailand which has heavy traffic that cause polluted air..The results showed that Fe, Zn, Cu and Cd were found in Thai native mosses. Therefore; it could be verified that Thai mosses can adsorb heavy metal and could be used as a bio-adsorbent